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Cape Wells derby
The Cape Wells derby, a local derby between Cape Wells Wanderers F.C. and Manorham F.C., is a notable rivalry in Gregorian football. Wanderers play their home games at PNC Wanderers Stadium, while Manorham play their home games at Enterprise Stadium at Franklin Road. The rivalry is the oldest football derby in St. Gregory between clubs still in existence, having first been played in 1981. Matches have been infrequent in recent years as the two clubs played in separate leagues; Manorham played in League A, while Wanderers were absent from the top flight between 2009-10, when they finished bottom of the table and were relegated, until their return in 2016-17. Both Wanderers and Manorham are well supported in Cape Wells, St. Gregory's third-most populated city. Matches between the two clubs are almost always sold out, often months in advance. The derby is perceived as a battle of upper and lower classes, with Manorham taking their name from the upscale suburban neighborhood (Appleton-Manorham) in western Cape Wells where they are based, while Wanderers continue to be based in the city's historic downtown. Fan surveys taken throughout the years have ranked Manorham as consistently the most disliked club by Wanderers fans. On the other hand, Wanderers' lengthy absences from League A have seen Manorham fans rank other clubs, most notably Bonneville United, as their most disliked club in the last decade, with Wanderers ranking second. The most recent edition of the rivalry was played on January 27, 2018, as part of the 2017-18 League A season. Manorham won the match 2-0 at Franklin Road. History of the rivalry Origins Cape Wells Wanderers first began play in 1963, playing in the now-defunct League of Northern St. Gregory. Although lacking a true local rival, they played alongside a number of other clubs from Cape Wells between 1963 and 1979, when they left the LNSG to join the newly-formed St. Gregory Football Association. In 1981, two years after the establishment of the SGFA and its professional league, the Championship, Manorham F.C. were founded and accepted to the SGFA as the city's second professional club. The first match between the two clubs was played on October 24, 1981, at Wanderers Stadium, resulting in a 1-0 win for Wanderers. It was the first professional local derby match played in St. Gregory outside of the city of Bonneville. The dislike between the two clubs was immediate; Manorham's arrival in the league had divided the talent pool in Cape Wells between the clubs, resulting in poor league showings for both. Wanderers and Manorham finished the 1981-82 SGFA Championship season in second-last and last place, respectively. Wanderers supporters derisively referred to their suburban counterparts as the "Ham-wagon", a portmanteau of "Manorham" and "bandwagon". A cartoon published in a November 1981 issue of the Cape Wells Daily Herald, the city's daily newspaper, showed a group of pigs attending a football match and waving Manorham pennants. The 80s and 90s Although Manorham repeated their last-place finish in their second season, the two clubs spent the next few years both around mid-table until the 1985-86 season. That year, Manorham – aided by a hefty investment in key foreign players such as Andy Morton – won what had that year been renamed from the SGFA Championship to League A. In doing so, they became the first Cape Wells football club to win a professional league title in St. Gregory, although Wanderers had won a professional trophy, the 1980-81 SGFA Cup, prior to Manorham joining the association. Wanderers, meanwhile, finished seventh in 1985-86 and narrowly avoided becoming the first team ever to be relegated to League B. Three years later, in 1988-89, Wanderers did suffer their first-ever relegation to League B by virtue of finishing in tenth place, bottom of League A. That same season, Manorham edged out New Castle's bid for three League A titles in a row by winning their second league championship. 2016-present Wanderers' League B championship in 2015-16, and subsequent promotion back to League A, renewed the rivalry. The sides met for the first time in league play in six years on December 19, 2016, ending in a 0-0 draw at Franklin Road. In the return fixture, on April 16, 2017, Wanderers defeated Manorham 2-1 to record their first league win over their rivals in nine years. No Cape Wells derby took place in 2018-19 following Manorham's first-ever relegation at the end of the 2017-18 League A season, marking the first time in history that Wanderers had been above Manorham in league placement. Manorham returned to League A following promotion from the 2018-19 League B season, and thus the rivalry will resume in 2019-20. Results League A Category:Cape Wells Wanderers F.C. Category:Manorham F.C. Category:Rivalries